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Wednesday, December 10, 2014

WWE Is All In On Roman Reigns Ready Or Not

The only take away from Monday Night Raw was the simple fact that WWE is all in on Roman Reigns for better or worse it would appear. Any time the WWE has something with fan voting eyebrows will raise and results will be questioned. After all this is pre-determined entertainment are we suppose to believe their polls are on the level? When you look at the Slammy’s you can make the argument that Roman Reigns was not legitimately the Superstar of the year through some fan vote. The basis to make such a claim can be done simply based on crowd reaction. Compare him to the reaction that Dean Ambrose gets or a few other superstars that draw a larger reaction. In defense of legitimacy A.J Lee, winning Diva of the Year is clearly not an outcome the WWE wanted to happen. After all her husband has been in the news and said some terrible things about the company you might have heard. He also on Saturday joined the UFC with A.J Lee present at the show he made the announcement.

Regardless of polls and WWE altering opinions and trying to get the audience to buy what they are selling, Roman Reigns has been being sold as a big deal from the beginning. If anyone questioned his status as the WWE’s next Golden Boy, to be the eventual replacement to John Cena that fact would be confirmed by C.M Punk. In his famous interview, Punk talked about The Shield being his idea and him hand picking the guys that made up the group. He wanted his long-term rival on the independents Chris Hero as the third member. The WWE countered with Roman Reigns and Punk would agree feeling it wasn’t something worth fighting about. He also told the story of how people kept coming up to him before his match at TLC last year making sure that Punk was going to have Roman Reigns look strong even though he was winning the match.

The worst kept secret in wrestling has been that Roman Reigns is expected to face Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31 and win the WWE Heavyweight Championship. That plan hit a major iceberg Reigns had emergency surgery to repair a damaged hernia. He is on the verge of returning and this was his first live appearance on Raw since the injury. The fact he was named Superstar of the year is proof of one thing or another depending on your point of view. If you believe the WWE alters these results it is proof that they are back on the major push to make Reigns the huge draw for Wrestlemania 31. If you believe the voting was legitimate, this might confirm the WWE is correct in pushing Reigns and building him to be the Cena successor.

Once it became obvious to the majority of fans that Reigns was this chosen one of sorts it was followed with critics. People questioning the in-ring work of Reigns that he had only a few moves and lacked the stamina to have long matches. They have also questioned his ability to talk on a microphone. This was something that was well hidden in his time with The Shield as Ambrose and Rollins have shown to be above average on the microphone.

Still it is hard to deny that Roman has this “It” quality of coming off as cool. Women clearly are attracted to him for his obvious looks. Guys still find him as that cool guy that could win a fight in a bar. In terms of the kids, they see him as this larger than life super hero like figure. That is the basic formula for a top babyface in wrestling for decades. It is hard to deny this and that he is the typical type of guy that Vince McMahon likes to have as a top star. Add in the fact he is related to The Rock it doesn’t hurt matters. He doesn’t have the same charisma or speaking skills that the Rock has though. Outside of wrestling in an interview setting, he can be a very engaging guy to talk with. Go seek out interviews he did with Sam Roberts and others as proof of that.

In the end, Reigns might be being rushed to the position that he eventually would have gotten too. The thing is will rushing him to that point create a backlash that will be hard to overcome. C.M Punk positioning him as this chosen one by the WWE management and Vince and Triple H doesn’t help either. He just confirmed what was obvious from the very beginning of The Shield. While all of The Shield has been protected very well from the start Reigns was treated on just another level. He was the mostly silent muscle of one of the best factions in wrestling in the last 5 years if not longer.

The one thing that is clear regardless of what you think about the various issues is that the WWE machine is fully behind Roman Reigns and the plan that most have thought for 6-9 months about Wrestlemania 31 will still likely happen. The fact it is predictable is not bad but the fact fans might not be ready for it is bad. Daniel Bryan winning the WWE World Title was very obvious but still became a great moment. Roman Reigns is not in the same spot though as he is not anyone’s underdog even when you match him against Brock Lesnar.

WWE doesn’t need to create another polarizing top babyface as they have in John Cena. It is not a good move for an audience that has had a decade of Cena being shoved down their throat for the most part of that decade. I will defend the WWE on one thing they have been careful to keep Reigns somewhat distant from John Cena. It is something that if Reigns is to have any chance at success needs to happen. Sorry to break it to Dolph Ziggler fans being attached to Cena is a career killer not a career maker. Cena has a hard enough time getting over the people he faces let alone the people that are positioned as his buddies.